A Change of Seasons

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: 

a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 

a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,  

a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, 

a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 

a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 

a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8" 

 

And you thought this was just a song your parents listened to in the 60's. 

 

I love how September brings a sense of order to our lives as everyone gets back into their school and work schedules. Life begins to take on its organized form again. For this text book first born girl, as sad as I am to see the warm weather leave, I am always happy to organize our time after the fun filled chaos of summer is gone.

 

With so many changes of seasons going on right now with many people I know, I had to stop and reflect on how seasons change in each of our lives sometimes by choice and sometimes maybe not so much by choice. Schedules are familiar and bring both comfort and predictability.  As a rule, most people like it when our boats don't get rocked.

 

However, even with the fall schedules shaping up familiar, predictable events, there are times in life when your predictable season shifts and changes with or without notice.  Life keeps moving forward but names, places, events, and locations can change.

 

We've gone through our share of shifts and seasons these last 5 years when we thought we had hit our stride in life, planned it all out perfectly and  thought we were just going to go nicely along on auto pilot (funny of God doesn't do cruise control) our scenery, instead, kept changing.

 

Changes started and continued when my husband started his own business, my dad died, my girls changed schools, our church and being a part of worship changed, and now we are moving from our home of almost a decade. One change was a domino effect in several of the other changes.

 

Seemingly every time we've turned around in the last 5 years we were walking through a change and into another season.

 

With each season of activity and change something is seemingly lost (it's not, it is just placed somewhere else), something is gained and something is learned. 

 

When things change it leaves us with a few questions and you are left with a choice to either trust God that He will work it all out or trust something else not as reliable like possibly your emotions. Confidence put into our emotions, our circumstances and situations, or in our seasons will disappoint us.  All those things can and will change but God never changes.

 

This is what my kitchen looks like right now.  A complete mess in disarray with no organization at all to it.

As I stood looking at this mess I had to laugh and think of how this is what I have felt in my life several times in the last few years and maybe you can relate. In the midst of change sometimes our lives feel in disarray much like how my house looks like right now in the midst of packing up.  Everything is placed in the wrong spot, I can't always find what I'm looking for so it seems lost, and everything has to become a mess before there is order to the chaos. I thought of a good life lesson here. In this literal mess and my change of many seasonal "messes", my frame of mind races to figure out how to put everything back the way it was instead of resting in the fact that God knows exactly where everything belongs, where everything is going and will lead me through the chaos, mess, pain (fill in the blank) to where He wants me to be. 


I am gently reminded that in life when you're in the middle of changing seasons, maybe it's not suppose to go back to the way it looked before...it's not suppose to go back to the way it was even though it was familiar. Maybe He truly orders our steps and wants to direct us like His Word says. He does do new things in each of our lives. Maybe in the middle of each change God simply wants to show you His love and faithfulness. Know the fact that He is more than enough for you in each season of life no matter where you've been or where you're headed and believe that there are often seasons He is brings you through to birth the next season of your life.  


My kitchen may look like a mess right now (much like my literal life did in many of my changes of scenery and seasons of the last few years) and maybe when I get to our new house my china and glasses won't be in the same cabinets as they are in now and so it will look a bit different than it did here at this house. But God is here and God is there in that new house too.  He had plans here that served their purpose just like He has plans for our new house too.  Just like He will show you His purpose and a plan in each of your seasons no matter the difficulty level of each change when you follow Him.


Turns out when you move from one season to the next, physical things may be changed or moved around but one thing always remains (did you think I would get through a blog without quoting at least one song? I am chomping at the bit to sing again), God always remains and He so gently teaches us to trust Him in and through every season of activity He has planned for us under the sun.